Sorrow of Colony, Sublimating Grief in Dance

When I was a kid, Choi Seung-hee was an enigmatic person to me. Though Choi was known as a representative Korean dancer, there were no documents about her at all. I realized that the reason why I couldn’t find these was that she moved to North Korea with her husband who was a left winger.

Her life was politically unlucky because she and her husband were purged and disappeared from history. However, Choi was not a politician but a dancer. We remember her as an artist. A miserable life of artists was just a reference to understand their art.

This was a rarity that Korea possessed: an internationally-renowned dancer in a colonial era. Is it evidence that Koreans have the sense to enjoy dancing and singing?

She was born with a beautiful face and a slim body which was suitable for a dancer.

Her autobiography includes Choi’s handwriting, which is difficult to find, and comments on her dancing from people who were living at that time.

Her personal story is sad.

The book portrayed her dark childhood when she would go to school without meals and neither her parents nor siblings would try to eat in the morning because of the lack of food, which was prepared by her older brother who earned money by writing.

However, at the part where she left for Japan to learn dance at an early age, readers can feel her guts.

A criticism showed what the darkness of that era gave her.

When she had gained acclamation in Japan creating a Joseon dance, some blamed her for selling the soul of the Joseon Dynasty.

New York Times dance critic John Martin said after watching her performance that, “It was an incredible, feminine attractiveness itself.”

“Choi Seung-hee, she had colors of Japan, a Chinese motion, and Korean lines,” he said.

Being ahead of the time was the artist’s fate.

As she married Ahn Mak, an intellectual who majored in literature from Waseda University, she said, “After I am married, nothing’s changed. I become more and more passionate for dance.” She also said her marriage was a form of protest against people who argued that dancers on a stage in Joseon are toys for men and lead an intemperate life.

A fine artist might be made in hard times.

Choi was a folk dancer who was dancing in the national tragedy. With that as her achievement, it would probably be a big mistake if we forget this rare artist. With this regard, this book is valuable.

I haven’t seen her dance. But, I can see the beautiful woman dancing in spaces between the lines while reading the book. Choi Seung-hee was a woman who was raised by the sorrow of the colony and swallowed by the division of the Korean peninsula.

The tile of the book is “A Person Who Lived a Life as a Flame.”